Solution Highlights
- Implemented a no-code toolkit for the research management system to avoid custom coding
- Created an intuitive UI to handle complex custom configurations traditionally managed by code
- Empowered non-technical users to make adjustments to the RMS by themselves
- Solved the problem of scalability and simplified acquisition of new users
About the Project
Customer:
Verity is a leading provider of research management software, data, and analytics, empowering institutional investors and global fund managers to improve efficiency and make more data-driven decisions. The platform appeared as a strategic merger between MackeyRMS and InsiderScore and aims to become a best-in-class solution for investment teams involved in fundamental research.
Challenges & Project Goals:
Having a research management system, our partner faced a significant challenge in scaling their business due to the need for custom coding for each user’s specific process and entity configuration. The main characteristic of their product was the lack of a one-fits-all solution, which meant the use of custom coding if the company wanted to retain clients. Scaling was possible only through hiring more people, which was expensive.
Verity expressed a desire to streamline this customization process to attract bigger clients and facilitate easier scaling. Their main goal was to enable non-technical users such as portfolio managers, analysts, and compliance officers to manage customization themselves, reducing dependency on code changes for every new client requirement.
Solution:
Intelliarts introduced a no-code toolkit to allow users to configure processes and entities without the need for any technical background. The development was mainly centered on creating a user-friendly interface that could handle complex custom configurations traditionally managed by code. Step by step, our team translated the available features and entities of the product into the no-code format in order to facilitate the integration of new clients and solve the problem of customization, along with scalability.
Business Value Delivered:
Our solution benefited the company in a range of ways, but most importantly through:
- User empowerment by enabling non-technical users to make adjustments to their system themselves
- Scalability by providing customization without the need to involve technology experts on our partner’s part and, hence, simplifying the acquisition of new users
Data Analysis, SaaS Development
Technology Solution
The customer came to us with the idea of a no-code toolkit, but they weren’t sure it was possible to transform their existing software into a no-code platform. So our collaboration started with the research performed by the Intelliarts team to check the feasibility of this idea. After we proved it was possible to develop a no-code toolkit for the Verity research management system (RMS), we moved to the development part.
Altogether, five software engineers and one automation quality assurance engineer worked on the no-code toolkit to enable users to configure processes and entities traditionally managed by code. Conceptually, our partner singled out a list of entities and features such as dashboards or templates that the company wanted to cover, and one by one, we translated them into the form of the no-code toolkit. The core focus was on:
- No-code configurations so users could adjust settings and customize features without coding
- The modular design to make the entities and features developed reusable and easily adjustable
To explain more carefully, these are the key features of VerityRMS that our software engineers translated into a no-code toolkit:
Templates for notes
Templates with text fields and fully customizable bullet items allow users to fill research notes and capture metadata. With this feature, users can tag their content automatically by any identifier relevant to them, easily drag and drop files from other sources, and save and notify the team about changes. Generative AI reduces the time spent on manual data entry, as well as helps to create automatic summaries to go through the core points and highlights of the research.
Portfolio monitoring
For portfolio managers, the system offers at-a-glance portfolio monitoring to access the latest insights, ideas, and metrics in a few clicks. VerityRMS is a data-agnostic tool so users can see analyst data alongside third-party data and are free to incorporate data from any external sources.
Dashboards
This was among the first features that the Intelliarts engineering team translated into the no-code toolkit because of the usefulness of dashboards for users. The idea is to be able to aggregate data from diverse sources and present it seamlessly to users, without any need for coding, as well as any involvement from analysts to generate insights.
To enhance automated reporting, users can also benefit from custom tearsheets offering a more integrated experience delving deeper into a particular entity. For example, a compliance officer can get a comprehensive view with financial transactions, etc., etc. combining data from multiple sources and in real time.
Business Outcomes
Verity successfully scaled their business and attracted bigger clients by empowering non-technical users to manage configurations themselves. The no-code toolkit significantly reduced the overhead associated with custom coding for each client, facilitating broader business growth and operational efficiency.
Specifically, Verity managed to lower the entry threshold for new users, and at least two big clients appeared thanks to the no-code toolkit in 2021.
The solution became more powerful with the introduction of the no-code toolkit. Among other things, the system provides users with more customization without the need for a technical background and a user-friendly interface that has a short learning curve.
In turn, the company itself won on:
- Faster development and, hence, faster time-to-market as no-code platforms streamline the development process by replacing more traditional lines of code with a user-friendly visual interface.
- Flexibility since software engineers no longer need to rewrite extensive lines of code, which is time-consuming. Instead, we make adjustments here and there to modify designs, functionalities, and logic, which makes the software stay in sync with the evolving business needs and user feedback.
- Integrations as no-code systems typically provide effortless integrations with a variety of third-party solutions and APIs. Accordingly, Verity also integrates with a variety of business, enterprise, and team tools, including Microsoft Office, Snowflake, Infusion, S&P, Power BI, and others.
